Book: The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence by Josh Waitzkin. Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

Nice book. I first heard of Josh when listening to Tim Ferriss show and then I got a recommendation (tks, Amir!).

The author is the guy from “Searching for Bobby Fischer” movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108065/). He was a chess prodigy as a kid and a Tai Chi Chuan champion as an adult. The links between the learning of martial arts and chess are really interesting.

He tells his story while describing the techniques he described when learning new physical and mental tricks.

Here are my notes:

  • A teacher has to learn how to teach without making the student lose his love for the game
  • When he was a kid, his parents encourage discussions where he can express himself and not follow authority blindly.
  • With his teacher, when they disagree, they have a discussion, not a lecture
  • When he makes a bad move, his teacher asks why he decided to take this path and try to get to the same end using a different path
  • Let your student associate hard work with success. Don’t say “you’re not good at it” when he fails but “try harder next time, and you will get it.”
  • The lessons learned in the pursuit of excellence mean much more than immediate trophies and glory. In the long run, painful learning mean much more than wins.
  • A man wants to walk the road, but it’s full of thorns. He has two choices: clean the road and tame the nature or build sandals. Sandals are the internal solution
  • You can’t expect the world to be silent. Instead, you can make peace with the noise and use it in your favor
  • Learn to deal with discomfort and pain. Don’t let it ruin your concentration.
  • Michael Jordan was the guy who reached the most successes in hitting the basket in the last minute, but he was also the guy who missed it the most
  • When the body needs rest, you can still improve the mind
  • Left-handed players should use the right for some time and be skilled using it as well
  • The more experienced player sees much more than the novice
  • The key to win is to become immune to the pain. If you play to relieve the pain, you give your opponent an advantage
  • We cannot expect excellence if going with the motion is the norm of our lives
  • Stress and recovery. Physical and mental stress and recovery activities are related. You should keep your body and mind prepared to have intense activities and recover from them as fast as possible. Always plan small interval between intense activities so you can get back to them with a fresh body & mind and perform better.
  • Interval training helps you to improve your recovery abilities
  • Find some activity where you feel focused. Create a routine to get to this activity (breakfast, stretch, meditation, music, and then activity). After one month, try to use the same routine to achieve a different activity and then optimize the time it takes to get in the zone.